"There is never an easy time to slip away but I wanted to leave at a time of our greatest strength and success," Lan said.

"The Young Vic is now admired and emulated internationally as well as loved by our audience in Waterloo, in London and across the UK. It's the right moment for it to set off on a new journey and a new adventure."

Many Young Vic productions - such as Ivo Van Hove's production of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge, starring Mark Strong - have gone on to success in the West End and on Broadway.

Other memorable past productions include A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Gillian Anderson; Hamlet, with Michael Sheen, and Ibsen's A Doll's House, with Hattie Morahan.

Image copyright@rupertgoold

Formerly a playwright and documentary maker, South African-born Lan took up his role at the Young Vic in 2000. In 2014, he was awarded a CBE for services to theatre.

He will announce his final season in mid-July and continue as artistic director until a replacement is appointed at the end of this year.

Alastair Smith, editor of The Stage,

David Lan’s Young Vic has been a welcome tonic to more insular approaches of much of mainstream UK theatre. A big internationalist.